RocketMail email service

RocketMail was originally launched in 1996 as one of the first major free webmail services, competing directly with Hotmail. It was developed by Four11 Corporation, a directory services company based in the United States. The service gained rapid popularity due to its intuitive interface and the novelty of accessible email for the general public during the early internet era.

In 1997, Yahoo! Inc. acquired Four11 Corporation for approximately $92 million to bolster its own communication offerings. Following the acquisition, RocketMail was integrated into the Yahoo! ecosystem, eventually becoming the foundation for Yahoo! Mail. While the standalone RocketMail brand was largely phased out in favor of Yahoo branding, the suffix remained active for legacy users. In 2008, Yahoo briefly reopened registration for rocketmail.com addresses to address the shortage of available usernames. Today, the brand is part of the extensive digital portfolio owned by the venture capital-led version of Yahoo, following its divestment from Verizon.